Tag: Barry Sheerman

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure that people in receipt of Government administered free cavity wall insulation schemes do not suffer damp in their houses after insulation.

Andrea Leadsom

Under the Energy Company Obligation, which is the primary government support for measures of this type, the insulation of a cavity wall must be accompanied by an appropriate guarantee, approved by Ofgem. Amongst other criteria, the guarantee must include an assurance framework for the quality of the installation and the product used in the installation. As the administrator of ECO, Ofgem assess the suitability of this framework.

Alongside this, the Department for Communities and Local Government has begun research into dampness in buildings caused by both internal moisture and wind-driven rain and related to insulation. This project is due for completion later this year. We are also aware of the recent publication of BBA Technical report No. 3, Full fill cavity wall insulation in areas of very severe exposure to wind driven rain.

The results of both projects, together with any other relevant information, will be considered as part of any review of the regulations and associated statutory guidance. DECC and DCLG have also commissioned Dr Peter Bonfield to conduct a wider independent review of consumer advice, quality and standards and consumer protection for energy efficiency and renewable installations. The findings of this review will cover installations of Cavity Wall insulations. This report will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to deter young people from committing cyber crime.

Mr John Hayes

The Government’s Serious and Organised Crime Strategy (2013) sets out our approach to deterring people from becoming involved in serious and organised crime, including cyber crime.

In March 2015, the Home Office published additional guidance to support local partners to understand pathways into serious and organised crime and put in place Prevent interventions for individuals at risk. The Home Office works closely with law enforcement, in particular the National Crime Agency (NCA) , to understand the drivers behind young people committing cyber crime.

Working to the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, the NCA aims to prevent young people from becoming involved in cybercrime in the first place, moving deeper into cyber crime and/or reoffending. The NCA works with both domestic and international partners to raise awareness of what activity is illegal, what are the consequences and the many positive career pathways available for those with technical cyber skillsets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with NHS England on the allocation of funding for second stem cell transplants.

David Mowat

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had any discussions related to the allocation of funding for second stem cell transplants.

NHS England has announced that the second stem cell transplants will be included as part of a re-run of the prioritisation process by the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group to be completed later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that public transport is adequately equipped for people with sensory loss.

Andrew Jones

The Government recognises how important improving access to public transport is for people with visual impairments and is committed to making transport more inclusive.

Buses and coaches subject to the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR) must incorporate a range of features to make bus travel more accessible for visually impaired people, including priority seating, colour-contrasting hand-holds and step edges, and destination blinds using clear typefaces. PSVAR applies to single-deck buses already, and double-deck buses must comply from 1^st January 2017.

The Bus Services Bill will specifically allow enhanced partnership schemes to require all buses within a local area to provide audible and visual next stop information. Authorities using the new franchising powers will be able to place similar requirements on affected operators. The Government has also agreed to consider amendments on this issue which were tabled during the Bill’s committee stage in the House of Lords.

We are also aware that positive interactions with bus drivers can make a big difference to the experience of visually impaired people taking the bus. We are working with the bus industry and disabled people to design best practice guidance in delivering disability awareness training which, we hope, will help to give bus drivers the skills and knowledge to assist every disabled passenger.

The Government also intends to publish an Accessibility Action Plan for consultation by the end of the year which will present its ambition for further progress on this agenda.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospital-borne cases of MRSA were recorded in England in (a) 2000, (b) 2005, (c) 2010 and (d) 2015.

Mr Philip Dunne

In April 2013 Public Health England took over the surveillance of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia, formerly undertaken by the Health Protection Agency. We do not hold the data for 2000 and 2005.

Cases are published according to both trust apportionment and trust assignment. For the purpose of answering this question trust apportionment or assignment can be considered as “hospital borne” cases.

The assignment process was added to the MRSA surveillance in 2013 superseding the previously used apportionment method. The assignment process utilises individual case review and therefore allows for a much more considered categorisation of a case and associated learning to prevent similar cases occurring in the future, than was previously possible. The assignment process was only introduced in 2013 as MRSA numbers were previously considered to be too high to make this resource demanding method viable.

The total number of trust apportioned and trust assigned cases are displayed in Tables 1 and 2 respectively.

Table 1: Trust apportioned counts of MRSA bacteraemia in 2008, 2010 and 2015.

April 2008 to March 2009	April 2010 to March 2011	April 2015 to March 2016
1,606	688	297

Table 2: Trust assigned counts of MRSA bacteraemia in 2015.

April 2015 to March 2016

302

Notes:

1. Cases are published on a financial year basis.
2. Trust apportioned data are not available for the years 2000 and 2005.
3. Trust assigned are not available for the years 2000, 2005 and 2010.
4. Cases are deemed to be Trust apportioned if the following criteria are met:-

– The location where the specimen was taken is given as ‘acute trust’ or is not known;

– The patient was either an ‘In-patient’, ‘Day-patient’, in ‘Emergency assessment’ or is not known.

– Patient’s specimen date is on, or after, the third day of the admission (or admission date is null), where the day of admission is day 1.

1. Cases are deemed to be trust assigned on the basis of Post Infection Review (PIR) assignment and relevant cases are assigned to acute trusts.
2. The trust assignment method supersedes the apportionment one post 2013 and utilises case review by the teams caring for the patient.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to increase the number of household waste recycling centres that accept liquid paint.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

The Government has been engaging constructively with the British Coatings Federation on making better use of leftover paint, including identifying potential regulatory barriers to its recycling and remanufacture and how these might be overcome.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) encourages consumers to recycle and re-use household paint by providing information through the Recycle Now website. This includes a postcode locator which helps pinpoint local Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) that accept leftover paint. The Government’s Innovation in Waste Prevention Fund has also supported a pilot paint re-use project in Cheshire involving local charities, working with HWRCs and housing associations to increase paint donation and minimise disposal. WRAP will publish a summary of the project, lessons learned and a video case study later in the year.

In terms of public procurement, it is for each Government department to consider sustainability and put this into practice in its own procurement activity. Government Buying Standards do not currently include remanufactured paint. WRAP has recently published a guide on ‘How to Include Re-use in Local Authority HWRC Procurement’.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote joint work between special needs assessors and disability advisers within universities on ensuring that appropriate support is given and provision made for disabled students and for students with dyslexia.

Joseph Johnson

Higher education institutions are responsible for meeting their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010, including for students with dyslexia.

The legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments applies to all disabled students. In addition Disabled Students Allowances (DSAs) are available where the needs of the student cannot be met by the institution by way of such a reasonable adjustment. A consultation on DSAs closed on 24 September and the Government response will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent representations he has received from (a) charities, (b) lobby groups, (c) experts, (d) social workers and (e) law professionals on the treatment of female prisoners with young children.

Caroline Dinenage

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will undertake an inquiry into the value for money of the PFI deal which funded the building of Calderdale Royal Hospital.

Alistair Burt

We have no plans to undertake such an inquiry. This Government launched an initiative in 2011 to extract savings and optimise value for money in operational private finance initiative (PFI) contracts. This included a pilot exercise at a major NHS PFI scheme which resulted in guidance with appropriate methodology and lessons learned being issued to all relevant NHS trusts in 2012. The Department has specialist officials to assist trusts in implementing the guidance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been extradited from India to the UK in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire

Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2015, the UK has extradited one person from India. This extradition took place in 2013.